Field of the Disclosed Subject Matter
The disclosed subject matter relates to a fragrance delivery device, system, and method of use.
Description of the Related Art
A number of methods exist for dispensing a volatile fragrance material into the air in order to create a pleasant indoor fragrance experience and/or for counteracting or neutralizing offensive odors. Previous methods utilizing vessels made from porous materials such as ceramic, have been used as a means to provide a fragrance environment. Typically, these products are offered with a pre-measured amount of fragrance, which is simply poured into the vessel in order to initiate activation. Migration of the fluid fragrance into the absorbent vessel completes the process. A glazing on a portion of the vessel protects surfaces from unwanted exposure to the fragrance.
Other conventional devices include absorbent structures saturated with fragrance oil, which are sealed in a vapor impermeable enclosure. The structures are activated by removing the article from the enclosure and allowing the structure to be exposed in a confined space to create a fragrance awareness. The absorbent structures used for such application include paper, wood, ceramic, nonwovens, felted fabrics, and polymeric substrates, which can be infused with fragrance, such as ethylene-vinyl acetate copolymer, polyethylene, polypropylene, polyvinyl chloride, and assorted closed and open celled foams, to include those based on polyurethane, polyether and polyester chemistries, and the like.
In contrast to the release of fragrance from an inert substrate, other forms of products in this category rely upon the co-evaporation of fragrance along with an inert carrier. The most common of these formats is represented by water based gels, in which the water and fragrance co-evaporate resulting in the ever diminishing size of the gel, as the volatile components of the formula release, leaving the gel matrix to slowly collapse onto itself.
Another format in which co-evaporation is an integral component is found in liquid wicks. Again, the release of fragrance, water, and volatile solvents, from some form of polymeric or cellulosic wick in liquid contact with the reservoir, creates an evaporative release of actives to provide an indoor odor awareness.
One drawback of the conventional devices, such as those noted above, is that the stability and the integrity of the fragrance diminishes over the projected shelf life of the device even, when the device remains unopened and unexposed to an external environment. Furthermore, such conventional devices experience deleterious interactions between the fragrance materials and outside interactions such as oxygen, heat, and ultraviolent light. Fragrances made in anticipation of these deleterious interactions frequently limit the range of the raw materials available for use in the fragrance. Therefore, raw materials that are highly fugitive or aggressive against packaging components, or which might be inherently unstable over a prolonged period of time on a shelf, are selectively omitted from use in these fragrance formulations. Aggressive materials such as citrus oils, terpenes, acetates, and aldehydes are thereby frequently avoided, as these materials have a high potential to negatively interact with the packaging materials. These anticipated limitations restrict olfactory experiences, which can be more fulfilling to consumers had the raw material options not been restricted out of concern for such deleterious packaging issues and fragrance stability concerns.
Furthermore, frequently hostile processing conditions are used for a number of product forms that impact fragrances in a negative way during the course of product manufacturing. For example, incorporation of fragrances such as into polymeric substrates, requires processing conditions in excess of approximately 300 degrees Fahrenheit, whereas hydrocolloid based gels require processing at approximately 85 degrees Fahrenheit.
It is known that fragrance products held at elevated temperatures, such as during the time allocated to prepare and fill the products into suitable packaging, frequently require several hours on a production filling line. The processing time at such elevated temperatures can create a hostile environment for the fragrance. Furthermore, such processing times can create a negative impact on the materials in the fragrance, which are more fugitive. Such materials often are driven off into the external environment and never manage to be incorporated into the fragrance product for which they were intended and thus never reach the consumer.
Thus, there remains a continued need for an improved fragrance delivery system, a fragrance delivery device, and method of use. The presently disclosed subject matter satisfies these and other needs.